The widespread practice by law firms of mandating ever-increasing billable hour requirements casts doubt upon the integrity of our profession, skirt the spirit if not the letter of the Code of Professional Responsibility (CPR), and makes many lawyers miserable. At some point, minimum billable hour requirements cross the line from sound business practice to dubious self interest at the expense of a vulnerable client.
A balance must be reached between the necessity of managing a law firm as a business and maintaining the integrity of the practice as set forth in the First Canon of the CPR. The bar has the duty to reign in the excesses of billable hour mandates and it is in their own enlightened self-interest to do so. The ever rising billable requirements are simply bad for the profession as the lamps are lit well past the dinner hour and the divorce, suicide and general unhappiness rate of lawyers increase.
